Man who lost both parents in nursing homes speaks out against bill

Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff on Monday asked the Senate health regulation committee to postpone a vote on her bill that would limit liability of the corporate owners of nursing homes in negligence lawsuits. Bogdanoff said she wants to make changes to the proposed legislation.

But before that happaned, Madison resident Robert Gray talked about the deaths of both his parents in nursing homes.

"My father died alone on the floor of his room in a skilled care facility, suffocating on the dinner he just ate," Gray said. Gray said nursing home staff in 2008 fed his father a large meal even though they had been instructed not to, and left him alone in his room after that meal, even though he was supposed to be supervised for two hours after eating. Eighteen months later, Gray's mother died in a nursing home when she choked on a feeding tube. Staff members, he said, ignored her cries for help.

"Where's the accountability? All over the country in every state there is a call for accountability," Gray said. "This bill must not pass this committee."

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